Free Community Dinner, December 26

Looking for a few good people to cook, serve and clean up on Boxing Day, the British holiday for servants to return home. Join us for a home-cooked meal in thanks for God's blessings. To reserve your seat, call the parish office.

ECW Christmas Celebration at Meadowview Nursing Home, December 19

Our ECW provides gifts and party fixings for all 177 residents so they may celebrate Our Lord’s birth. ECW prepares throughout the year for this very special celebration with the residents of Meadowview, many of whom receive no visitors and receive no gifts from family. For more information, contact the parish office.

Gaudete Sunday, December 16

In our church, we light the pink (or Gaudete) candle on the third Sunday, the Sunday of “Joy.” The color is lighter because we celebrate the fact that we are now half-way through the season of Advent (one priest told me that there was no truth to the rumor that it was called Mothering Sunday because the mothers were being warned to get their cleaning underway before the holiday arrived!).

This year, the children of our church will participate in our celebration of the lighting of the Advent wreath on Dec. 16 during the 10:30 service. Join us as we light the candle and participate in the service by distributing the bulletins and collecting the offerings.

UTO Ingathering, December 9

Please drop your box or envelope into the collection basket at the door to help fund good works.

Card and Game Party, December 11

The ladies of the church gather each month strictly for fun, so come out and play! Bring cards or your favorite board game, and be prepared to wage war!

First Friday Pot Luck, December 7

Join us in family-style fellowship. Bring an entrée, bread, or dessert– or just yourself! Or see you next month on Friday Jan. 4.

ECW Christmas Dinner 2007

Once again our ECW has arranged for a parish holiday celebration at Creevey’s on Atlantis, the fine dining restaurant located in the clubhouse of Atlantis Golf Course, Country Club Boulevard in LEH. Mike Creevey always does a fabulous job and we go away well fed.

This year’s menu is a choice of tilapia, loin of pork, or chicken francese, along with veggies, potato, rolls, dessert and coffee or tea. Adults will only pay $20 for their meals. A children’s menu is offered for $10, and offers chicken fingers, pasta or a hamburger.

You truly have no choice but to join us on Thursday, December 20 at 6 pm. Sign up now and be sure you have a place at the table!

A Very Special Event at St. Mary's Abbey, Delbarton

Here’s a letter we received for an upcoming event:

This is a “save the date” notice for a lecture which will be held in the Fine Arts Center of St. Mary’s Abbey/Delbarton in December, 2007. St. Mary’s Abbey/Delbarton is located three miles west of Morristown Square on Route 124; and the Fine Arts Center can be found on the great lawn on the School Property. This public lecture is part of the sesquicentennial celebration of the New Jersey Benedictines in 2007-2008. You are welcome to be the guests of St. Mary’s Abbey/Delbarton for this event.

Monday evening, Dec.10, 2007– 7:30 pm, a public lecture by Bishop Frank Griswold. Bishop Frank Griswold is the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. A theologian and an authority on monasticism, Bishop Griswold is an oblate of Mt. Savior Priory in Elmira, NY. He will speak about the education if St. Benedict as discerned from the Dialogues of St. Gregory and how we can employ in our contemporary teaching what we can learn from St. Benedict’s education. A reception for Bishop Griswold will be held at 6:30 pm in the Fine Arts Center as well as after his lecture.

Also on display in the foyer of the Fine Arts Center for those who attend Bishop Griswold’s public lecture will be a generous sampling of images from the traveling exhibit of the St. John’s Bible from the monks of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN.

Mark Your Calendars - Annual Meeting January 20

It’s that time of year… when our church plans for the future. Here’s your chance to have a voice in our decision-making process by attending our annual meeting on January 20, 2008. We present reports on the activities of all of our committees during the previous year, and elect the new members of our Vestry (technically our Mission Committee, but that’s a longer name!), as well as our convention and convocation delegates.

This is a very important time in the life of our congregation. We need to have a firm foundation as we continue the transition from a small church to our current home. We will vote to fill two seats on our Mission Board and the position of Senior Warden. According to the By-Laws of the Church of the Holy Spirit:

Article IV: Committees
4.a) A Nominating Committee shall be comprised of two (2) Mission Committee members and two (2) members of the congregation who are not members of the Mission Committee. Said Nominating Committee shall convene at least forty-five (45) days prior to the annual meeting. The names, addresses and telephone numbers of the Nominating Committee shall be published and the Committee members shall receive recommendations for elective mission officers from any member of the congregation entitled to vote at the annual meeting who in turn shall ascertain from those recommended whether or not they will serve and thereafter make nominations for said elective officers from those recommended at the next annual meeting of the congregation.
B) The Vicar may attend the first meeting to offer suggestions to the Nominating Committee.
C) The recommendations of the Nominating Committee will be made known collectively at the annual meeting when nominations are opened. After which nominations may be received from the floor by a motion and a second by voting members of the congregation.

Our Nominating Committee to date is comprised of Evie Brown, Mary Malone and Bill Chapman, all of them reaching the end of their elected terms. Please pray for God to guide them during their search for our new leaders.

Christmas Services at Holy Spirit

It’s finally here! Advent is nearly over. By now you plan to help “green” the church for Christmas and will be here Dec. 23 after the 10:30 service. But what about the Christmas season services? When will we see you?

We offer three celebrations for your choice. They begin after sundown on Christmas Eve, as our wait for the birth of Jesus comes to an end.

The first service is our traditional Children’s Celebration at 7 pm. Father Terry asks all young people to join as we set up the crèche. This was the time that Joseph brought Mary to the stable in search of shelter as her time drew near to deliver Our Saviour. Father also invites everyone to stay for a few minutes after the Eucharist to party in our Fellowship Hall.

We extend an invitation to everyone to join our second celebration as we begin with the Carol Sing at 9:30 pm on Dec. 24. Our choir practices all month to lead us as we rejoice in the birth of Jesus and commemorate the appearance of the angels to the shepherds as the Good News was made known to all.

A Solemn High Eucharist begins at 10 pm on Dec. 24. We welcome the arrival of the Baby with full reverence and display, including incense and choir, concluding with a candlelit Silent Night.

Christmas Day begins with a quieter, more reflective Eucharist at 10 am. Join us to observe the birth of our Saviour before you celebrate with your family. May God bless all of us and watch us.

Free Community Dinner, November 28, 6:00 PM

Marlene Johnson and Anna Tews lead the way with a home cooked meal of thanks for God’s blessings. Sign up now to join this month's meal. Maybe even host next month's meal! Details are available at the parish office.

ECW Meeting, November 20, 1:30 PM

All women of the church are automatically members, so join us each month and reach your full leadership potential.

Christmas Bazaar, November 17, Downstairs

What a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season! Come and choose some handmade gifts for friends and family, buy some homemade baked treats, share some laughs and good times, and support your church at the same time.

Giving Thanks by Donating Blood

December 1, 2007 will bring a first-time event to our new home. Sally Sedon and Mary Malone plan to hold a blood drive in conjunction with Central Jersey Blood Center, a non-profit organization which for over 40 years has provided blood for such hospitals as Saint Barnabas in Livingston and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Blood is always needed by hospitals, and holidays make the need crucial. Blood cannot be synthesized by science at this time, and must be donated.

Leukemia, the general name covering 4 types of cancer of the blood, affects the ability of the body to produce normal red cells to carry oxygen and white red cells to fight infection. Colleen Richard of our congregation suffered from this disease. We dedicate this drive to her honor. At your request, we will add your name to a certificate we will present to the Richard family.

Please call the church office to sign up. We will have either the Bloodmobile in the parking lot or tables in the Undercroft, depending on the number of donors expected. The CJBC will be with us from 9 am until 1 pm, and we are accepting appointments. Allow about 1 to 1 1/2 hour for the whole process.

I’ve given blood at least 10 times, and the discomfort is minimal. Drink lots of fluids in the days before your donation, and eat well. (What an excuse!!)We’ll give you a souvenir tee shirt, some juice and some special treats. I’ll see you there.
Make this a gift to Jesus for His birthday and help others to celebrate it also.

Giving Thanks by Planting Trees

We’ve lived the nightmare ourselves. Pictures of flames reaching into the night-blackened skies tell of unfathomable damage to the denizens of the arroyos and mountains. Stories of the wildfires in southern California bring back some recent memories for those of us who live among the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey.

For five days last May, we experienced the same fears as our brothers and sisters across the country. We prayed for our neighbors and friends as over 6,000 people were evacuated during the fires, which eventually consumed more than 18,000 acres of woods. Through the grace of God, we were luckier than the Californians: no one died. Fire destroyed five homes, and damaged thirteen others. God’s rain came late Wednesday night, and aided the fire fighters in their battle.

Our fire was set accidentally; the California fires were set, in part, deliberately by arsonists. At least seven people died, and estimates say 2,300 homes were destroyed in California. Despite Do you know the purpose of your “little blue box?” Many of us have gotten them for years without fully understanding their existence.

The United Thank Offering began life in 1889. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church met every three years, and the Women’s Auxiliary held worship services during the convention. During the 1886 service, over 500 women attended but only $87 was collected. A delegate from Pittsburgh, Mrs. Ida Soule, was horrified by the miniscule amount. She spoke with Julia Emery, who agreed that more knowledge of the intended recipients of the money might inspire people to be more generous. Just before the next Triennial Meeting, Ms. Emery published a letter in the Spirit of Missions from Mrs. Soule designating the intended recipients. Thus began the UTO.

The mission of the United Thank Offering is to encourage people to offer daily prayers of thanksgiving to God. The donation made daily will be tangible evidence of thanks.

According to the UTO Website, “God calls each of us to grow in awareness of God, our own relationship with God, and our relationship in community with all whom God has created. As habits of daily thankful prayer mature, our personal relationship with God grows. Daily prayers of thanksgiving strengthen our being and doing. The blue box can be a reminder of our many blessings. Uniting our own gifts of thanks with those of others keeps us in thankful relationship with them and with all of creation.

In sharing our thank offerings with those throughout the Communion who seek to address compelling human need and extend the mission of the Church, we deepen our sense of participation in the lives of others. The shared prayer and money offerings help others to respond to God’s call and to grow in their own deepened sense of living within the greater Christian community. Through our shared stories, God calls us to continue to grow into the fullness of the Kingdom.”

These little “mite boxes” provided grants of $2.4 million last year, and funded Episcopal projects such as the completion of a hospital in Pakistan, the building of a new church in Homer, Alaska, and the inauguration of a Sunday school program in Jackson, Mississippi. Remember the goals when the ECW collects.

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

August 12, 2007

In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul begins with this statement; ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Let’s talk about this thing called faith this morning.

Each of us here today most likely have faith in modern technology to help us get through our days, get us where we're going, keep us warm, comfortable, fed and entertained? And, despite the problems that naturally accompany anything with moving parts, we have grown to have great faith in these devices.

But let me ask you this: Would you fly in a plane that was run by a computer that was programmed beyond the intellectual control and comprehension of any human being?

Your immediate response is most likely is "No," but, guess what? We fly in such planes all the time. The old saying that a computer is only as smart as the person who programmed it is no longer true. It hasn't been true since 1987 when computer scientist John Holland discovered that he could let computer programs evolve.

Such programs turned out to be better than those of human programmers, but they were also beyond our mental grasp. We are already flying on airlines that run on software that no human mind or human pilot can understand, much less control. We are creating things that behave as if they're alive, things like organically grown networks (like the Internet), things like computers writing their own software (like on airplanes). What faith we have in technology!

That is how faith works. When I turn on a light switch, I have faith that the light will come on. I don’t have to understand electricity to have such faith. All I need to know is that yesterday when I threw the switch, it happened. But, if I want to understand electricity, I would need to have faith that it wasn’t just a weird theory. I would need faith that it worked.

Many philosophers and theologians have suggested the idea that faith is the basis of all knowledge. One example is St. Augustine of Hippo. One of his key contributions to philosophy is the idea of "faith seeking understanding" What Augustine is claiming is that , faith must be present in order to know anything. In other words, one must assume, or have faith in the credibility of a person, place, thing, or idea in order to have a basis for knowledge.

We see this most clearly in the way children learn. For their early years, they place their faith in their parents. They are not intellectually developed enough to understand how things work, or what they should do. So, they put their faith, their trust, in mom and dad. From that foundation of trust, they can then begin to understand the world around them.

Faith seeking understanding.

Now, when we bring the idea of faith into contemporary Christianity, we run into a problem. Unfortunately, the word “faith” has become understood by many Christians as a synonym for “belief.” Consequently, the test of being the right kind of Christian has become that you hold the right set of beliefs.

I think we need to sort out this confusion. Seekers of God begin with two basic questions. The first is “Is there a God?” That question requires a yes or no answer. To ‘have faith” is to answer yes to this question. The second question is “What is God?” That is a question of belief, and the answer is going to be complex, and always inadequate. Beliefs are intellectual expressions of our faith.

Another way we can define religious belief is to say that belief is what we predicate of God. Most of you probably remember learning about predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives. They are the noun or the adjective that follow the verb in a sentence. For instance, if we say “Jesus is the Son of God”, Son of God is the predicate nominative, or the belief we are stating. I we say “God is good,” then “good” is the predicate adjective, or the belief we have about the character of God. These are both belief statements.

A faith statement would be “God is.” Nothing more. God exists. That is all we have to say yes to if we desire to begin seeking understanding, of growing our relationship, with God.

Faith has an absolute quality that belief does not. Either you have faith, or you don’t. Either you answer yes or no. There’s no such thing as partial faith.
Beliefs, on the other hand, tend to shift depending on the time in history we are in and the cultural setting of the belief system. It also varies according to the abilities of the person. A child’s beliefs will not be the same as an adult.

Beliefs are important, don’t get me wrong. It is our beliefs, our understanding built upon our faith, that guides our actions. But we can allow a diversity of understandings within our community. It is our faith in God that unites us.

Christianity is not built on intellectual ideas. It is about having a relationship with the living God. Much like children have faith in their parents, we begin by placing our faith in God. And the first step in establishing such a relationship is to say yes to God. Over time, if we nurture our relationship with God, the understanding will grow as well.

It is our faith in God that is our greatest treasure. And where our treasure is, there our heart must be also.

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

August 5, 2007

Jesus told a parable that strikes at the soul of our age. A parable so close to our culture that we cringe just a bit upon hearing it. A man gains so much in the way of material goods that he begins to worry about it. He wonders, "How shall I protect my investments? How can I get a better return on my goods. Where shall I put the abundance and the extra that I have?"

Upon making plans to keep all that he has and store even more, the man in Jesus' story breathes a sigh of relief only to hear a final summons;"This very night your life will be required of you...then whose will all this be?"

"So it is," Jesus says, "With those who store things up for themselves, but are not rich toward God."

You probably recall the old routine from a Jack Benny program (at least some of us will recall this) - where Benny is confronted by a robber who pokes a gun in his ribs and says, "Your money or your life!" Jack Benny does not answer right away and the thief angrily says again, "I said... your money or your life!" There is a longer silence and the thief becomes really angry as he shouts, "Why don't you answer me. I said your money or your life!" Benny finally answers, "I'm thinking, I'm thinking.

Sometimes, we are all a bit like Jack Benny, aren’’t we? We are so hungry, so full of indiscriminate desire. And we are so worried that there will not be enough, so we store our treasures, like the man in Jesus parable.

And sometimes, if you are like me, I get so caught up in worrying about the future, that I forget to really live in this present moment.

As the poet William Wordsworth put it;

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Is there more to this life than just getting and spending? Do worldly treasures really satisfy our deepest desires?

What do we really want?

Sometimes, it seems as if we know that something is not quite right in our lives; and so we try to fix it; we try to fill that hunger for the illusive “something more.” What often happens is we end up living for some future destination. We are just one more promotion, one more new car, one more dream home, away from nirvana. When some of these dreams become concrete realities, we are surprised to find they don’t satisfy our deep, unnamed longing. Something seems missing, or maybe broken inside, and we just can’t fix it.

In some religions, like Buddhism, the teaching is that the purpose of religion is to get you over your wants, to help you to get rid of your desires, that longing for the elusive something more. Complete detachment is their goal. Open to everything, but attached to nothing.

Christianity is different. We don’t try to quench all desire. Passion is a good thing, if directed properly.

The Confessions of St. Augustine begins with this line: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rest in you.” Augustine did not eliminate his passion. He redirected it. Only God’s love can satisfy us, because it is for that relationship of love we are created. Nothing else can ever satisfy the depth of our longing for God.

The Psalmist, in Psalm 42, expresses our deepest longing this way:

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
2My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.

What do we really want? We want to love, and be loved. And we learn what love is through our relationship with God. That relationship is our heart’s desire. All other love flows from it.

May we recognize that the love of the living God is our heart’s desire. And then may we allow the gift of God’s love to flow out from us into the world.

Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

July 1, 2007

Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem. He is moving towards the cross. He knows his time among his disciples is short. It is time to prepare them for continuing his ministry. It is time to make sure that they have their priorities straight.

And maybe it is time that we do the same thing. So many of us live such busy lives, with so many demands being made on our time, on our attention. In the hustle and bustle of our lives, few of us probably have an opportunity to take an honest look at our own priorities.

What are the most important things in your life? What are your priorities? Take a few moments to think about that question. Be honest. What aspects of your life would you list as a high priority? Family? Friends? Relationships? Job? God? Good health? Happiness?

Juggling all these things can be quite difficult sometimes. And every once in awhile, we probably get them mixed up. Our child needs our attention, but the priority of the job wins out. Our friend needs our help, but family commitments keep us from offering the help they need. The doctor tells us we must lose some weight, but that extra bowl of ice cream makes us happy.

How do we sort out all of these priorities?

Jesus disciples seemed to have the same problem. They were struggling with how to fit being a follower of Jesus into their own priority system. Maybe by looking at Jesus response to their struggle, we can get some insight into how to sort out our own priorities.

First, we have Jesus being rejected by the people of a Samaritan village. In response, the disciples want to bring down fire from heaven and destroy them.

There’s some history behind this. The Samaritans and the Jews had been feuding for some time. Their disagreement had to do with, among other things, where the holiest place in Israel was. The Samaritans claimed it was Mount Gerizim. The Jews claimed it was Jerusalem. The Samaritans were descended from the Northern kingdom of Israel. The Jews came from the Southern kingdom of Judah. After both kingdoms were conquered and taken into exile, when remnants returned to Israel, the Jews claimed that the Samaritans had inter married with their captors, making their blood line unclean. Similar derogatory accusations were made by the Samaritans regarding the Jews. Even though both groups claimed to be sons of Abraham, there was much animosity between them.

Because Jesus was headed for Jerusalem, the false temple, according to the Samaritans, they wanted nothing to do with them. The disciples, who are all devout Jews, are outraged. Let’s zap them all with holy fire, they suggest.

How does Jesus respond? Let it go. Drop your high priority on what is pure and what is not. We have no time for family feuds. If you’re going to walk with me, let go of your religious bias.

This is our first lesson on reordering our priorities. We are to avoid breaking people up into our group versus their group. There is no us and them. All are children of God. And if others reject us, and even despise us, we do not respond in kind. That only perpetuates the divisions. We let it go, and move on.

Next they meet a potential disciple along the road who tells Jesus he will follow him wherever he goes. Jesus responds by telling him that "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." As Jesus heads for Jerusalem, where Pilate and the cross await him, there’s no time for creature comforts. In a crisis, our happiness has to take a lower priority. To be a follower of Jesus, to give the kingdom of God a high priority, is going to be uncomfortable sometimes.

Then they encounter a man who wants to bury his father before following Jesus. Jesus responds by saying, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

That sounds pretty harsh, doesn’t it? Add to it the next encounter, in which a potential follower wants to say good bye to his family before joining Jesus. What is Jesus response? "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

I think it is important that we try to wrap our heads around what Jesus is saying here. When in the midst of a crisis, what will be our priorities?

In a crisis, it is so very important that we stay in the present moment. The temptation is to be drawn into regretting the past or fretting about the future. Once you have made a decision, let go of the past. Let the dead bury the dead. Dwelling on the past will only cloud your thinking and keep you from moving forward on the path you have chosen.

When it comes to our relationship with God, it is critical that we remain in this present moment. Because it is only in this present moment that we encounter the living God.

We are each invited to walk with Jesus, to become his disciple. No one is to be forced to make this journey, but it is an opportunity which must be seized no matter what the costs involved. It is the way to eternal life, not only for ourselves, but for everyone. This needs to be a high priority in our lives.

These encounters with Jesus from this morning’s gospel can help us set our priorities. But they should not be seen as demands. They represent a sense that important things are happening every day of our lives and we must seize the opportunities while they are still available. Today’s opportunities will never return.

Will we continue to mix up our priorities? Will we still make a wrong decision once in awhile? Will we still freeze up in a moment of crisis? Most likely. After all, we are only human.

But here’s the exciting part of being a follower of Jesus. Once we say yes to God, and agree to walk in the way that god has revealed to us through Jesus Christ, something miraculous happens. We begin to be transformed from the inside out. God, who dwells within us, begins to adjust our priorities. We become a new creation.

And that is where we find our hope. Left to our own devices, most likely we will continue to make the wrong calls and be less than we want to be. Our trust is not that we will be able to trust our own priorities. Our trust is in God, who will reorder those priorities.

That’s what I have experienced in my life. Left on my own, I can be a pretty selfish person. I am my first priority. That attitude got me in a lot of trouble in my younger years. But over time, God working within me has slowly transformed my own self-centeredness.

That spiritual transformation still has to struggle with my human nature. Someone drops in at the office here. I’m late for a meeting and have a phone call to make before I can go. I really don’t have time for this person. So I only half listen to what they are saying. But then something within me whispers “Pay attention.” And, usually, not always, but when I’m open to God’s spirit, I make time, I shift my priorities. There is a child of God before me who is in crisis. I have to let go of everything else.

Let go of the family feuds. Let go of the past. Be in this present moment, and allow God to set your priorities. Let us put our trust in God to transform us from the inside out. Let us be followers of Jesus, and together work to transform the world.

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

June 24, 2007

In Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia, he wrote these words:

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

For you are all one in Christ. If only we could live that out.

It seems more and more in the conversations going on in the Christian Church, we find a list of "beliefs" that one must adhere to in order to be classified as a "REAL" Christian.

I often find these lists of beliefs troubling. Do we really think that we can know the full nature of God?

We cannot contain God as God really is in words or ideas. This doesn't mean we give up on trying to know God, however. And, within the limits of our humanity, aided by divine revelation, we can gain some knowledge of God. But it is always incomplete knowledge. Whenever we say, "This is God," we need to add, "But God is more than this."

Does this mean we embrace an "anything goes" perspective? I don't think so. If you want to know what Episcopalians believe, worship in an Episcopal Church. It's all there in the liturgy. When we offer our praise and thanksgivings to God, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, we are attempting to express, in our own finite and limited way, using time-tested forms and customs, the way we have found to build a closer relationship with the living God.

However, our ushers do not administer entrance exams at the door. I do not test those who come to the altar before offering the sacrament. When the world wants to know who we are, and who God is, our response is "Come and see."

If we like it or not, the religious landscape of the world has shifted. Christianity is no longer The Main Event. We have become simply another booth at the fair. Such a shift requires that we rethink how we present our faith.


The area in which I live grows a lot of blueberries. Imagine going to a farmer's market, approaching a booth offering blueberries, and being told that before you can make a purchase, you must state without reservation that these are the best berries, and in fact the only REAL berries. Further, you must renounce all previous berry purchases, and believe in the stated formulary and history regarding the creation of these berries, which is included in the 25 page booklet that the vendor thrusts in your face. I don't know about you, but I know I would avoid such a booth in future trips. It's not the pedigree of berries that interests me. The question on my mind was "Do they taste good?" ...Taste and see...

I think of some of our children who come forward to receive communion. Do we insist that they hold the “right beliefs,” even when their intellectual development does not allow them to deal with such complex ideas? No, we don’t. They know something is going on that is important to everyone else. And they know that it has something to do with God. That is enough. Yes, we need to offer a fuller understanding as they grow older. And we’ll do that, through our Christian Education programs.

In the end, I don’t think when I get to heaven that God is going to ask me much about what I believed. But I would imagine there will be quite a few questions about what I did, or did not do. It is through our actions that we express what we believe. And I think excluding someone from the body of Christ because they don’t live up to our expectations is a wrong action. When we do that, we are standing in the doorway of the kingdom, blocking the way for others.

But how can we have unity if there is no common belief? Yes, there are some things that we have to agree on. We do have some core doctrines. There are some points on which we have to come to some kind of agreement, or it will be impossible for us to act in the name of Christ.

Our Gospel lesson points us towards one of these core doctrines. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, "The Messiah of God." The Hebrew word mashah is translated into messiah, which means anointed. Christ is the Greek word christos which also means 'anointed.' For the first time in Luke's gospel, Jesus is proclaimed Messiah. Peter said that Jesus is anointed king and comes to free people and establish the kingdom of God.

This is important. It’s not enough to understand Jesus to be just another prophet, or a wise teacher, or a good man. And here’s why it is important:

We believe that Jesus is the manifestation of the divine; that Jesus is God incarnate. The reason this is important is that Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Messiah, represents the bridge between heaven and earth. God is no longer a distant deity. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. God has entered our world. God is among us.

This keeps us from falling into the common human error of thinking we can save ourselves. We can’t. We’re broken and we can’t fix ourselves. We need a savior. We need a God with skin on. And that is who Jesus Christ is for us.

That is our foundation. Our believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the word made flesh and moving among us, is the glue that holds all Christians together.

Do I think it matters how a person comes to this belief? No. It could be through the experience of God in their lives. It could be from hearing the scriptures. It could be from the example of God’s love that they have seen through Christians in action. There are many ways to encounter the risen Christ. And, since we all start at a different point, the way we express our beliefs are going to be different.

In essentials, unity
In nonessentials, diversity
In all things, charity.

Let us not consider our diversity of beliefs as a problem. Instead, let us celebrate this diversity, giving thanks to God who is revealed to us in so many ways, and so allowing all people to see and respond to God’s gift of grace. Let us be one in Christ Jesus.

Third Sunday After Pentecost

June 17, 2007

This morning, we have heard about Jesus going to a dinner party hosted by Simon, one of the leading citizens of Jerusalem. In the middle of the meal, something unexpected, something astonishing happened. A woman crashed the party. And not just any woman. A woman from the streets; a notorious sinner…a prostitute. She walks in and starts pouring expensive feet. Then she begin to cry, her tears falling on his feet. She begins to wipe his feet with her hair.

The actions of this woman broke just about every social custom of that day. Beyond that, it broke most of our social customs today.

Imagine if this happened to you. You’re having dinner, and a woman you’ve never seen before suddenly bursts into the dining room, and begins to wash your feet with her tears. I don’t know about you, but I’d be terribly embarrassed. What are people going to think? Aren’t they going to wonder how I came to know such a woman? This is going to destroy my reputation. Someone call 911. Get this crazy woman out of here.

That’s probably how Simon, the host of the party, saw things. He’s outraged by the whole thing. He thinks to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-- that she is a sinner."

And sometimes, I think that is how the Church responds to some people. Not all the time, but sometimes. When we throw open the doors of the Church, and send out the message that are a welcome to join in the feast, some people may respond to that invitation that may make us feel uncomfortable. They’re different. Their a little strange. They don’t look like most of us. They dress differently. They talk differently. And maybe we know some of them to be notorious sinners.

And when persons like the woman in this morning’s Gospel story show up, they feel our reaction to their presence. The sad truth is that much too often, people who, like her, were drawn to Jesus too often avoid the church today.

Phillip Yancey tells the story of a friend of his in Chicago who worked with poor persons in the city. He was visited once by a prostitute who was in dire straits. She had been renting out her two-year old daughter to men for sex in order to support her drug habit; and she was homeless, sick, and unable to buy food for herself or her daughter. Yancey's friend asked if she had thought about going to a church for help, and the woman seemed horrified. "Church?! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse." She had experienced church as a place of judgment and inhospitality.

How can we be more hospitable to the stranger in our midst, even if we feel uncomfortable? We may want to take a closer look at Jesus’ response to this woman.

Instead of worrying about himself and his reputation, Jesus immediately jumped to the defense of this woman. We're not told exactly what had happened to this woman before she showed up at the party, ; but, obviously, something had taken place that was absolutely life-changing…life changing enough for her to kneel at Jesus feet and weep. Somehow, she had become aware of the love and mercy of God. Since it was to Jesus that she offered her gift of perfume, it must have been ministry of Jesus that was the catalyst for her change of heart.

Somehow, this woman had come to see that God's goodness is always bigger than our sinfulness. This woman had come to understand that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more than God already loves us, and there is nothing we can do to make God stop loving us.

So how did Jesus respond to Simon’s outrage? He said to him, “"Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Her sins have been forgiven; hence her great love. There’s a point here that we need to make sure we get straight. This woman was not trying to earn God’s forgiveness by washing Jesus’ feet. God’s grace is a free gift. We don’t deserve. And we can’t get it through good works. The woman in this story had already experienced God’s grace, God’s forgiveness. The act of ministering to Jesus was in response to this gift of grace. It was an act of thanksgiving for the good thing that god has already done.

When we find a stranger in our midst here at church, we need to always remember that God has already touched their lives. They wouldn’t be here otherwise. Our role is to celebrate with them the good thing that god has already done, and love them with the love of God.

In his commentary on this Gospel story, Fred Craddock wonders where one goes when told to go in peace as Jesus instructs this woman to do at the end of our story. "What she needs," Craddock says, "is a community of forgiven and forgiving sinners. The story," he says, "screams the need for a church, one that says you are welcome here."

There is an old legend about Judas that Madeleine L'Engle tells. The legend is that after his death Judas found himself at the bottom of a deep and slimy pit. For thousands of years he wept his repentance, and when the tears were finally spent, he looked up and saw way, way up a tiny glimmer of light. After he had contemplated it for another thousand years or so, he began to try to climb up towards the light. The walls of the pit were dark and slimy, and he kept slipping back down. Finally, after great effort, he neared the top and then he slipped and fell all the way back down to the bottom. It took him many years to recover, all the time weeping bitter tears of grief and repentance, and then he started to climb up again. After many more falls and efforts and failures, he reached the top and dragged himself into an upper room with twelve people seated around the table. "We've been waiting for you, Judas," Jesus said. "We couldn't begin till you came."

So many people are looking for a community of forgiven and forgiving sinners. May they find such a community on the corner of Main and Cedar in downtown Tuckerton.

Homeless Outreach

We are supporting two ministries to the homeless: The Atlantic City Rescue Mission and The Lakewood Outreach Ministry. You can help by providing new towels, tooth paste and brushes, shampoo, bar soap, disposable razors, combs, brushes, toilet tissue and disposable diapers.

Items may be placed in the two large boxes in the Fellowship Hall marked for our ministry to the homeless. For more information, please contact the parish office at 609-296-9618. Please note that clothing is not needed at this time.

Vendor's Fair, Saturday, August 4

From 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, vendors will be set up in the parking lot across the street. Contact the parish office at 609-296-9618 to reserve a vendor space. First come, first served. An 8' space is $25, rain date is August 11.

Fellowship Dinners

On the last Wednesday of each month, we are offering a free hot meal to anyone who shows up. Leave your wallets home! Please call the parish office at 609-296-9618 to make your reservation.

ECW Potluck and Crazy Bingo, Tuesday, June 19

Bring a covered dish at 6:00 pm to share with 6, along with three $1 gifts, and join in the fun! Sign-up sheet in Fellowship Hall, or call the parish office at 609-296-9618.

Blueberry Festival, Saturday, July 14

Order your homemade blueberry pie today! The sign-up sheet is in Fellowship Hall, or call the parish office at 609-296-9618.

The Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 10, 2007

This morning we encounter two processions. One is going into the town of Nain and the other is coming out. Nain is a town in the South of Galilee, a short distance from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.

At the head of the procession going into Nain is Jesus. The procession coming out is led by a coffin. What will happen when these two processions cross paths at the town gate? Which one will give way?

Jesus sees the grieving mother. What does He do? How does He respond? His heart went out to her. He feels compassion for her. He chose to share in her sorrow.

Moved by compassion, Jesus acts. "Young man, I say to you, get up!" he shouts. And the dead man sat up and began to talk. The compassion of Jesus led to something amazing happening, something unexpected. Death was trampled down by the Lord of Life.

This is our Christian hope. Through Jesus Christ, death, our ancient enemy, has been cast down and trampled underfoot. Death has been swallowed up in victory. We no longer have to live in fear of death.

But, sometimes, we do anyway, don’t we? It's difficult not to fear death. I’m not just talking about physical death. We die many little deaths throughout our lives. Many of the changes we face feel much like a little death. We grieve the loss of the familiar. We long to relive days from our past.

But the reality is that if we are to continue to grow, we must accept these little deaths. We must allow ourselves to be transformed into the full stature of Christ. And for that to happen, we have to let go of some of the baggage that we are dragging around with us; those old grudges, those past regrets, and those character flaws. There are aspects of ourselves that we have to allow to die.

In our Epistle lesson, Paul speaks about his earlier life in Judaism; about how he was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. You may recall when St. Stephen was stoned to death, it was Saul, who later became Paul, who held the coats of the stone hurling crowd. When Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he was transformed. But that transformation required a little death as well; the zealous persecutor of the Church had to die.

Congregations have to pass through these little deaths as well, if they are to be transformed and follow the call of God. I was an interim priest for a few years. I would be assigned to serve in a congregation while they made their transition from one spiritual leader to another. Sometimes their former priest was the beloved rector. Sometimes he or she was not so beloved.

Regardless of the case, there was always some element of a grieving process going on in that congregation. Interims were expected to allow that process to happen, and attend to any pastoral needs that might result from it. It was only when the congregation faced that that particular chapter in their life was now over that they could begin to dream about the future. There had to be a little death before there could be room for new life.

Sometimes, we fear these little deaths so much, that we are a bit too cautious. We hesitate to do anything new or risky. What if we fail? What if there isn’t enough? What if we make a mistake? We stick to the familiar, to the comfortable, because we are afraid of dying.

Barbara Brown Taylor, an author and an Episcopal priest, recently wrote a thoughtful article in the Christian Century entitled, “The Poured-Out Church”. I want to share part of it with you:

…when I consider my life of faith, this world is clearly where my transformation has taken place. It is in the world that I have met the people who have changed me—some of them believers, but far more of them not—people who have loved me, fought me, shamed me, forgiven me, sanding down my edges on one side while they broke whole ragged chunks of me off the other. The world is where I have been struck dumb by beauty, by cruelty, by human invention and greed. The world is where my notions of God have been destroyed, reformed, chastened, redeemed. The world is where I have occasionally been good for something and where I have done irreparable harm.

The reason I know this, however, is that the church has given me the eyes with which I see, as well as the words with which I speak. The church has given me a community in which to figure out what has happened to me in the world. It has given me a place to love and grieve, within a tradition far older and wiser than I. It is the church that has poured me into the world, in other words—which is counterintuitive. How can a church survive that keeps pouring itself into the world? I cannot possibly say. All I know is the gospel truth: those willing to give everything away are the ones with anything worth keeping; those willing to look death full in the face are the ones with the most abundant lives. Go figure...

“…those willing to look death full in the face are the ones with the most abundant lives.” Can we look death full in the face? Are we willing to pour ourselves into the world? Will we risk much for the sake of the Gospel?

We can. And we will. Because we are Christians. Because we do not live in fear of death. Because we are those who proclaim the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I’m not suggesting we be foolish. There’s a difference between being bold and risking much and being foolish. We are certainly called to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us.

But we must always remember that our mission field is out there in the world. And to be effective witnesses for God, we must pour ourselves into the world, even if it seems risky; even if it seems deadly.

How do we know where to pour ourselves out? In this morning’s Gospel, when those two processions met, one led by life, and one led by death, it was at the moment that Jesus was filled with compassion for the widow that everything was transformed. Life overcame death. Mourning was transformed into laughter and joy. This transformation began with compassion; with Jesus opening his heart to the grief of the mother. Where do we begin to pour ourselves out? In those places where people are hurting; in those places where we find ourselves moved to open our hearts and reveal the compassion of Christ.

Let us always remember that we do not exist for the sake of the Church. We exist for the sake of the world. We are called to pour ourselves out, driven by compassion for those who are hurting in this world. If that means we have to look death full in the face, so be it. Cannot God raise up something new from the ashes of our vanquished dreams?

Let us not live in fear of death, or the little deaths that each of us will face as we walk together with Christ in our midst. Let us be willing to risk much for the sake of the world, and proclaim with our every word and deed the healing power of God’s love.

Fourth Sunday in Lent

In this morning’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable that is commonly known as the story of the prodigal son. The term “prodigal” is defined as “being wastefully or recklessly extravagant.

I think that a more appropriate title for this story would be “the prodigal father,” as, from our perspective, I think it is the father who acts in a most extravagant manner.

The two sons in this story represent two rather typical ways that most people respond to treasures entrusted into their care. It is the classic distinction between those who see a half glass of water as either being half full or half empty. One of these brothers is an incurable optimist. The other is a stubborn pessimist.

One way to define a pessimist is to imagine that a child is placed in a room full of toys, and after an hour, is found sitting in a corner, not having touched one of the toys. When asked why he refused to play with them, he responds, “I knew I’d just break them.” A definition of an optimist would be to put another child in a room full of horse manure, and when you came back in an hour, you’d find the child digging like crazy. When you asked why he is digging, his response would be, “Well, with all this manure, I just know there’s a pony in here somewhere!”

I think that there are times when it is appropriate to be optimistic, but there are also times when it is prudent to be a bit pessimistic as well. In this morning’s Gospel the two brothers represent the extremes of these two perspectives. One is a foolish optimist. The other is a joyless pessimist.

The issue is their inheritance; the wealth they will receive from their father. One demands it, and then squanders it. The other accuses his father of wasting it on his worthless brother.

These two brothers are not that unusual. We probably all know someone who has come into an inheritance and managed to spend every penny in a short time. And we also probably know those who most likely still own the first nickel they ever earned.

Note that both of these sons are stewards, not the owners, of this wealth. Their inheritance was the result of their father’s labor. Being good stewards, caretakers of that entrusted to us by another, requires a mixture of optimism; the willingness to invest in the future, and pessimism, the wisdom to not invest foolishly.

What is reckless, and even extravagant, is the response of the father to both of his sons. He greets the one who has squandered his inheritance with joy, and throws a party to celebrate his homecoming. In response to his angry elder son, he invites him to set aside his preoccupation of what is fair and what is not, and join in the party.

The reckless extravagance of the father has nothing to do with the inheritance of material wealth. It is about what is lost being found. It is all about his love for his sons. It is about his relationship with his sons. It is about grace, the unmerited favor a father offered to his sons.

It is with this same grace, this same unmerited favor, that God responds to each of us. It doesn’t matter if we are inclined to be optimistic or pessimistic, a squanderer or a hoarder; God wants us all to come home and join the party.

In his book, A Passion for Pilgrimage, Dean Alan Jones offers these words about homecoming:

The Great Memory is simply this; God has fallen in love with you and wants you to come home! Our first memory is God's love for us, and it is this memory that has been buried and repressed. Your first memory (if only you could get back to it) is that of being God's joy and delight. Why is it difficult to remember the joy of our beginnings in the heart of God? I wonder if it has something to do with our unwillingness to face the fact of our limited future? Memory and hope are intimately related. Perhaps we cannot recall the love that brought us into being in the first place, because we cannot imagine a love strong enough to pull us through the gates of death. I refuse to remember, because I dare not hope. I refuse to remember and I dare not hope, because I am frightened and angry because I will have to change.

God is madly, head over heals in love with each and every one of us. And, as the people of God, it is with this same passionate love that we are called to greet every person who walks through our doors. It doesn’t matter if we think they are worthy. It doesn’t matter where they have come from. We rejoice that one who was lost has once again returned to the family of God, and we invite them to join in the celebration.

We who are already members of the church might consider ourselves in the role of the eldest son. Our culture would the younger son who has left home. The biggest challenge in this story is for the eldest son to accept the prodigal grace, the recklessly extravagant grace, of God. Our challenge is to accept that those who are new to the kingdom of God are seen as equals in God’s eyes with those of us who have worked in the kingdom for most of our lives. There is no pecking order in God’s kingdom. And that doesn’t seem fair, does it? It’s not. God’s free gift of grace is not fair. It is freely given to all.

During this season of Lent, let us seek to return to God, and rejoice with the heavenly hosts when those who once were without hope experience the depth of God’s love. This parable has no ending. We are not told how the older brother responds to his father’s invitation to join the party. The celebration pauses as the guests await the brother’s response, and our response as well. This morning God asks each of us what we will do in response to God’s recklessly extravagant grace.

May we observe a holy Lent, resulting in abundant Easter joy.

Second Sunday in Lent

Last week, we talked about temptation and personal sin. I mentioned that a good way to think about sin is to consider it as “twisted good.” Sin is a symptom of a spiritual dis-ease. The cure is to repent, to recognize that we have somehow allowed our focus to be turned to something else and to reorient our lives so that our focus is back on God. With God’s help, we can return to the good root.

That is an important part of what we do during the season of Lent. We seek out the sin in our lives, confess it, amend our lives, and turn our eyes once again toward God. That’s part of what we are called to do during this season, but that’s not the end of it. We don’t live in a vacuum. Our personal repentance is the beginning of our Lenten journey. Now we must look beyond ourselves. We look for the need for our larger community to repent and return to the Lord.

To some degree, cleaning up our personal lives is the easy part. Going out into the world with a message of repentance is a lot harder. But, unfortunately, if we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, I don’t think we have a choice.

In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus is warned that Herod is going to kill him. He does not waiver in his mission. He sets his face toward Jerusalem, and the cross. Neither can we hesitate when it comes to proclaiming the message of Christ to the world outside these walls.

The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. To Restore All People. We are Christians not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of the world.

It seems to me that one of the primary roles of any congregation is to "equip the saints for ministry." To some degree, we offer worship and Christian Education opportunities to prepare us for the work God has set before us. But so many times there seems to be a lot of equipping going on, but not a whole lot of ministry. It's as if sometimes we feel that we're not quite ready -- one more class, one more experience of the living God, or one more prayer, and then (and only then!) we'll go out into the world and proclaim the Good News.

In the Gospel According to Mark we hear of John the Baptizer boldly proclaiming repentance and forgiveness through Baptism. We hear also of John's confronting King Herod. I would imagine that more than a few of John's followers gulped hard before accompanying him. But John and his followers continued in their prophetic preaching, and their ministries were blessed by God.

We have been called to go forth into the world and bear witness to the healing power of God's love. Inspired by the prophetic ministries of the Old Testament prophets, John and Jesus, we bear witness in word and deed. And we always remember that with each step of the way, we will find Christ in our midst, who breathes the Spirit upon all disciples. That is all we need. We are ready for this mission, whether we know it or not. What are we waiting for?

Amidst the struggles that the Church faces today, there will be times as we venture out into the world when we are called to prophetic ministry. We must put our hope in Christ, and not shy away from this calling.

We are called to prophetic action. We are called to be the John the Baptists of the world, proclaiming the message, “Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!”

The image of John the Baptist may make some of us a bit uncomfortable. He is depicted in scripture as being a hard, angry man, usually delivering his message stridently. And maybe we have good reasons to question if such a strident way of proclaiming our message would be well received outside these walls.

Maybe there’s another way to express our prophetic role. Let’s return to the example of Jesus in this morning’s Gospel. Consider his response to Jerusalem, the beloved center of the world for all Israelites:"Jerusalem, Jerusalem," he says, "how often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"

Jesus knows that he is going to Jerusalem, and will be will be rejected by the people. He knows what he is going to face there, that he will be arrested, suffer and be executed by his enemies. And yet, he weeps, not for himself but for the very people who will reject him. His heart breaks because he cares for them. He is willing to do whatever it takes to gather them under God’s wings. He weeps over Jerusalem, and all of humanity, because he has the heart of God. And God cares.

Those who follow Jesus, follow his example. At the root of the ministry of Jesus is love. And so, at the root of our message to the world must be God’s love. Two men were sitting at lunch one day when the topic of church came up. The first said that his congregation had a new preacher.

"What happened to the old one?" his friend asked.

"We didn’t much care for him, so he left."

"What didn’t you like about him?"

"It was his preaching," the man said. "He kept telling us we are sinners and that if we didn’t repent we would face the judgment of God."

"Oh," the second man said. "So what does the new one preach?"

"He tells us that we’re sinners and that if we don’t repent we will face the judgment of God."

The second man looked a little confused. "I don’t understand," he said. "What’s the difference?"

"The new one," his friend noted, "has tears in his eyes when he says it."

What was the difference between the two? The new one cared. The plight of people mattered enough for him to weep over their place before God.

Writing in a journal on ministry, William Easum once asked, "When was the last time your church leaders wept over the plight of your city instead of worrying about paying the bills?"

It is a good question isn’t it?

When was the last time we wept for the homeless men and women who live in camps just outside of our towns?

When was the last time we wept for the children who go to bed hungry every night?

When was the last time we wept over the people who have never heard the Good News of God in Christ?

When was the last time we wept because people refused to let God gather them under God’s wings?

Stepping into such a prophetic role will be difficult. We will make some people uncomfortable with our words and actions. No doubt this role was difficult for the prophets of the Old Testament as well, and John the Baptist handed over his very life to it. But if we have been called by God to this ministry, it is time to drop the excuses and go! The road may be hard, but the joy and peace we find on it will be deep, for our companion on the journey is Christ, who promised, "I am with you always, to the end of the age."

First Sunday in Lent, February 24, 2007

As we enter this season of Lent, we are offered the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.

The three temptations that he faces symbolize many of the temptations that each of us face on a regular basis. This morning I want to look at each of them a little closer, in hopes of helping us be more prepared when we encounter them.

First of all, maybe I need to make it clear that we need to be very careful about confusing temptation with sin. Lots of different things might wander through our minds. Some of those thoughts might be quite ugly. We might be able to limit such thoughts by more closely monitoring what we let into our heads…what we watch on TV, what we read, the kinds of conversations we engage in, for instance. But I think we need to be clear that ugly thoughts wandering through our heads are not necessarily sinful. It is how we respond to such thoughts. Do we dwell on them? Do we act on them? Or do we let them just pass by?

Jesus was tempted, as we are. Yet he did not sin. He rejected those ugly thoughts.

The first temptation is to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. Satisfying our physical appetites is a strong temptation for most people. And at its root is something that is not necessarily wrong.

To understand that, let me give you a definition of sin that I’ve found helpful. Sin is twisted good. At the root of every sin is something good. Sometimes when I hear the suggestion that the way to deal with sin is to cut it out over our lives, I find that idea making little sense to me. Do we really think we can surgically remove a part of ourselves without such a surgery affecting the rest of our being? I don’t think we can do that. We may be able to suppress those parts of who we are that we find tempts us to sin, but eventually it will come back to trouble us again.
I think a healthier way is to untwist the sin…to find its healthy root.

Let’s take for instance the temptation to satisfy our appetites. Often this arises out of the uncomfortable longing that most people experience for that elusive “something more.” We feel something missing. Life isn’t quite right. And so we seek some form of physical gratification to fill that void. Often whatever it is we use; food, sex, alcohol, drugs, whatever our particular temptation is, it seems to satisfy us for the moment, but eventually we find ourselves struggling with that same longing, now complicated by our possible feelings of guilt and remorse because of having given in to the temptation previously.

There’s nothing wrong in recognizing our longing for something more. Actually, that is a healthy thing. When tempted Jesus responded, “Man does not live by bread alone.” In another version of this story, he says, “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is what we truly long for…God. It is God who will fill that empty void.

Most times, there is nothing wrong with addressing our felt needs: our need for food, shelter, security, companionship. The problem comes when we confuse these things with our real needs, our eternal needs. As Thomas a Kempis said, we use things temporal, but we desire things eternal.

The next temptation Jesus faced was power. He was offered the rule of many kingdoms. Power and authority is a strong temptation for some of us. At its root is a desire to have some control of our lives…to assert some authority over those things we can control. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We could even say that it is an appropriate role for good stewards of God’s creation. The problem comes in when we begin to think that the power rests fully in us; that we rule instead of being stewards. The occasion of sin is when we try to play God.

The reality is that we are never in control, and we can never be God. But we are tempted to try. If we give in to that temptation, we might feel for awhile that we are God, but eventually we will come to realize that we have replaced God with another idol; something outside of ourselves that is driving us to seek power. Jesus’ response to this temptation is to say 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" We let God be God, and we serve as God’s stewards.
The last temptation grows out of the one before it. Once we realize that we are not God, there is the temptation to try to control God, to find ways to manipulate God’s power. I’d suggest to you that throughout history, one of the institutions that has given in to this temptation is the Church.

I’ll let you think about that one a little bit. For now let me just say that as Christians, we are not into magic, or magical thinking. We are not trying to manipulate God. Our intention is to become aware of the ways in which God is already manifest, the ways in which God is already among us. We are not summoning God to make an appearance here this morning through our prayers. God is already here, and always has been. The change happens within us; we grow to see God moving among us, and then join in God’s dance, usually referred to as doing God’s will in the world.

We do not put God to the test by trying to control or manipulate God. Instead, we seek out God among us, within each of us, and rolling through all things.

When faced with temptations, seek things eternal. Let God be God, and open your eyes to God’s presence among us.

May we observe a holy Lent, resulting in abundant Easter joy.

Telephone Tree

Do you have news or prayer requests? If so, Vestry member Evie Brown can help you. Contact the parish office at 609-296-9618.

Boston Coffee Cakes

This is a popular annual fund raiser for Holy Spirit. Orders must be in by Sunday, March 4. Sign up for your cakes and take an order sheet if you can sell some to family, friends or neighbors. Each cake is 24 oz, costs $9.95 (of which the church receives 40%) and will arrive freshly baked for Palm Sunday.

The Craft Group

The Craft Group meets on Wednesdays from 10 am to 3 pm. Everyone is welcome. Bring your lunch; coffee, tea, soda are available. Our current year's outreach project is making lap robes for Meadowview Nursing Home. If you knit or crochet, but can't come on Wednesdays and would like to work on this project from home, let us know. We can supply you with yarn.

Card and Game Party, March 5

On Monday, March 5 from noon to 4:00 pm, bring a snack to share to the church and let the fun begin!

World Day of Prayer

On March 2, churches in the Tuckerton area will gather at 2:00 pm at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located on the corner of Mathistown Road and Highway 9. Everyone is invited.

Thursday Night "Equipping the Saints" Class

Please join us for a study of the third volume of The Church's Teaching Series, The Practice of Prayer, by Margaret Guenther. The study of this particular volume is especially appropriate as part of your Lenten discipline. We begin at 6:30 pm in the library. Books are available from Fr. Terry.

"Welcome to the Episcopal Church" Class

This class meets on Sundays at noon in the undercroft (downstairs hall). This is a class to help us learn more about what it means to be an Episcopalian. Everyone is welcome, newcomers and those seeking a refresher course.

Lenten Program, Fridays During Lent

5:45 - Evening Prayer
6:00 - Simple meal (soup and bread provided)
6:15 - Program: "Groundwork - Digging Deep for Change and Growth" - The goal of Groundwork is to encourage personal and congregational transformation, to ask our members and leaders to dig deeply into the soil of our mission and context so that we may engage in serious and joyful learning about evangelism and service.